KEY POINTS:
ANZ and National banks have increased their variable mortgage rates by 25 basis points to 10.95 per cent, despite there being no increase in the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's Official Cash Rate (OCR).
ANZ and National have moved before the other banks, who currently have their variable mortgage rates set at around 10.7 per cent.
The jointly owned ANZ and National banks were also the first banks to lift their variable mortgage rate independently of the Reserve Bank back in mid-February.
They increased their rate then by 15 basis points to 10.7 per cent and were rapidly followed by the other major banks.
Only 13 per cent of New Zealand's home loans are on variable rates, with the remaining 87 per cent on fixed rate mortgages, which have been reasonably steady around 9.5 per cent to 9.7 per cent in recent weeks.
ANZ's decision in Australia to move its variable rate before the Reserve Bank of Australia moved was criticised by politicians and consumers there.
ANZ in Australia argued it needed to increase rates to pass on the higher costs of wholesale funding because of the global credit crunch linked to the US sub prime crisis.
In Australia around 80 per cent of home loans are on variable rates, with the remainder on fixed rates so the variable rate move had an immediate and significant effect on household disposable incomes.
- INTEREST.CO.NZ
